The Japanese stock market saw slight gains on Tuesday, building on the positive momentum from the preceding session. This uptrend was driven by favorable signals from European markets and the absence of input from Wall Street, which remained closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Nikkei 225 index is approaching the 39,000 threshold, buoyed by improvements in shares of major index players, automakers, and technology companies.
At present, the Nikkei 225 index has risen by 43.49 points, or 0.11%, standing at 38,945.99. It earlier reached a high of 39,238.21. On Monday, Japanese stocks demonstrated a notable upward surge.
In terms of specific sectors, SoftBank Group, a key market player, is experiencing a slight decline of nearly 1%, whereas Fast Retailing, Uniqlo's parent company, has shown a modest increase of 0.4%. Within the automotive sector, Honda has inched up by 0.4%, and Toyota is witnessing a near 1% gain.
Within the technology sector, Advantest has dipped 0.3%, though both Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron have each advanced close to 1%.
Banking shares are mixed; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are both down by nearly 1%, while Mizuho Financial is trailing slightly at a 0.5% loss.
Key exporters are generally underperforming, with Sony and Mitsubishi Electric each declining by about 1%, and Canon as well as Panasonic seeing slight reductions between 0.3% and 0.4%.
Some notable risers include Sumitomo Pharma, which is up by over 4%, DeNA climbing nearly 4%, and Disco gaining more than 3%.
On the downside, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI have both decreased by approximately 3%.
In currency news, the U.S. dollar is trading robustly, situated in the upper 155 yen range as of Tuesday.
Across the Atlantic, European markets exhibited positive movements. The FTSE 100 in the U.K. advanced by 0.18%, Germany's DAX rose by 0.42%, and France's CAC 40 increased by 0.31%.
